


A Colorful Life

by funnygirlthatbelle13



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Caleb Loves His Friends, Caleb’s Backstory References, Gen, Missing Mollymauk, Reflection, Scars, Tattoos, future happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2019-09-30
Packaged: 2020-11-08 08:50:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20832707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/funnygirlthatbelle13/pseuds/funnygirlthatbelle13
Summary: Caleb gets sick having to look at his scars. He impulsively decides to get a tattoo, but the ink brings him more joy than he’d ever expected. This is the story of his tattoo journey starting with his very first in Uthodern all the way to the end.





	A Colorful Life

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! So this is an idea I had a while ago, but the story never got finished. Until last night! Honestly, it’s far from perfect, but I love the concept too much to not post it.

They had been in Uthodern for a little over a week, waiting for news before moving on with their quest, when Caleb had decided to do something just a little crazy.

The Mighty Nein were in a pub recommended by Fen, casually enjoying a drink while chatting about what they should do in the morning assuming they didn’t receive word from Reani. Caleb was only half paying attention, instead focusing his attention on his arms. Even though he had been keeping his arms unwrapped for a while now, he hadn’t gotten used to being able to see the scars. Or worse, other people being able to see them and staring at him in pity. Without him thinking about it, he began scratching at the scars. He hated seeing them. He hated hiding them. There had to be a solution.

“Excuse me,” he’d asked the server as she placed drinks on their table, “Do you know of any, uh, tattoo parlors in-in the city?”

She smirked at him, no doubt thinking he wasn’t the type who could handle getting inked. Part of him thought so too.

“Yeah, about five minutes from the temple to the All-Hammer,” she’d informed him, “Ask for Talos.”

And he had, which was how he ended up sitting with an intimidating yet surprisingly cheerful dwarf covered in tattoos, explaining what he wanted.

“A peacock feather?” Talos asked, “You sure about that?”

“Ja,” Caleb said, “It is… inspired by an old friend.”

In truth, he wasn’t sure about any of this, but he couldn’t handle seeing his scars any longer. If anyone would have understood, it would have been Mollymauk. So why not try his solution?

The dwarf took Caleb’s arm and began examining his wrist, dexterous fingers tracking the scars up and down the wizard’s arm. Caleb did his best not to wince, and to his credit, the average person would not have noticed. But Talos did, adjusting his stool for a brief moment before clearing his throat. He looked up at Caleb, concern and hesitation in his eyes, but the wizard nodded.

“Alright, let’s get started.”

It took them almost three and a half hours to get the small feather exactly right, but once it was, Caleb was grinning from ear to ear. The feather was bright and colorful, and the scars blended right in.

“Danke,” he said to Talos, who was wiping his brow, “Molly would’ve appreciated the artistry.”

“Anytime,” the dwarf said with a smile. 

After that, any time they were in a city for more than a day, Caleb sought out a tattoo parlor or artist of some sort. Next he had gotten a blueberry, then two dragons (a blue and a white one) twisting together, the next several were various buttons and wildflowers. It had been months now, and his arms were slowly but surely becoming a kaleidoscope of color. 

****

Once, on a mission to track down a kidnapped member of Den Theyliss, Jester had discovered a large sack of gems on one of the recently deceased kidnapers.

“There are so many pretty gems in here! I bet I could give you a magic tattoo, Caleb.”

And within the week, the Nein were in Nicodranas, relaxing on The Ball Eater as Orly instructed Jester in how to create the gem dust and infuse it into preexisting ink. Jester meticulously added an amethyst cat paw to Caleb’s left arm and her signature Captain Tusktooth design on his right. Meanwhile, Orly had mixed some obsidian into his ink and was creating a filigree pattern on his arms, connecting the otherwise random designs and making it look like Caleb had sleeve tattoos and not just a hodge podge of designs. 

“Wow,” he whispered once they were done, moving his left arm so he could see the shimmer of the gem dust. It was stunning, and the fact that they would help protect him from being hit or charmed only made them more special.

“That’s some m-m-m-mighty fine work you’ve gotten done,” Orly commented, “I’m proud to have contributed.”

Caleb continued to get new tattoos everywhere they went. A lion in Kamordah. Some bubbles in Port Damali. Fireworks while in Hupperdook, with an enthralled Kiri watching. A shimmering dodecahedron in Rosohna, which cost a fortune but had proven worth it once he’d figured out how to unlock its dunamantic magic. Each place they went, he added another piece to his arms until eventually, the scars were practically invisible under all the ink. 

****

One day, a mission leads them to Blumenthal, sleeping in the bubble at the edge of the city in hopes that Caleb would not be recognized. But despite the group’s caution, Caleb could not fall asleep, not this close to home.

“Jester?” he whispered quietly, so quietly that he almost wasn’t sure he’d spoken. But Jester stirred and rolled towards him.

“Caleb? Is everything okay?”

“I think-I cannot…”

“Do you wanna plan your next tattoo?”

That wasn’t what he had been trying to say, and yet once it was offered, he could not resist.

“Ja,” he mumbled, sitting up, “Ja, sounds good.”

Jester quickly sat up and grabbed her quill and ink. She had learned from experience that sometimes a first draft was necessary. 

“Do you wanna do that piano band like that guy in Zadash, or maybe some more flowers! You said blume is Zemnian for flower, right?”

“I was thinking,” he said, choosing his words carefully as he rolled up his sleeves, “I was thinking about fire.”

For a moment, there was complete silence in the dome, which was interrupted only by Beau’s snoring. Jester said nothing, instead choosing to focus on one of his tattoos: a single strawberry that hid a particularly red scar. 

“Caleb,” she said tentatively, “I know that the fire was super, duper important, but just because we’re here doesn’t mean you need a fire tattoo. There’s a lot more to you than fire.”

“Well, then, what should we do?”

“I dunno,” she said with a shrug, “I just didn’t want you to think we had to do something about setting your parents on fire-oh! Maybe something about your parents? Like one of those hearts with mom written on it!”

“That’s… not quite my style. But… I would like to do something for my parents. Maybe their names?”

They sat for the next twenty-seven minutes, writing out the names Leofric and Una in every language they knew. Eventually they settled on Zemnian, the language both those names belonged to, though Jester was sure to write in a fancier style than strictly necessary. They practiced in her sketchbook before Jester moved to face Caleb.

“Caleb, I don’t think there’s enough room on your arms,” she said. 

He examined his arms and realized that Jester was right: all the real estate on his arms was taken up. He flexed his right hand, examining his most recent acquisition: a pair of eagles circling a mountain. 

“Perhaps… I saw finger tattoos last time we were in Nicodranas?”

By the time the rest of the Nein woke up, Jester was finishing up the last details on his finger tattoos. 

“Danke, my friend, danke,” he whispered as she began to put her equipment away. 

Jester smiled at him before turning back to putting her things away. Creating tattoos was hard, but Caleb's smile whenever a new one was completed, the confused but excited looks from kids and adults alike wherever they went, the way he was so exceptionally vibrant like only one other man she’d met, that made it all worth it.

****

Years go by, and eventually the Mighty Nein settle down outside of Nicodranas. No longer in a new city every week, Caleb elected to preserve his remaining real estate for “the right time.”

“I want to make sure my last few are good ones, ja?” he often said when asked why he had stopped with the nine behind his ear.

But when the first, well second after Luc, baby to come from the Nein was born, and Caleb held her for the first time, he knew.

“You will be my next tattoo, ja, liebling?”

And so, after days of working to get the design exactly right, Caleb had gone to Orly for a massive recreation of the tree Caduceus had once created on top of the Xhorhouse. Hanging from the branches were ornaments of Luc and Molly’s names. And with each child his friends had, he would add an additional ornament. 

And each child grew up begging for the stories behind each tattoo, and Caleb always obliged. They weren’t sure how many of them were true: had Uncle Caleb really fought dragons? Been a pirate? Saved the world? Had their parents really been heroes? Luc believed them. Molly thought it was bullshit. The others weren’t sure. How could their weird uncle with the tattoos and the cat wrapped around him like a scarf be the legendary hero who’d ended the war, rooted out corruption, and stopped demons from coming to this plane? 

When Cali is twelve, she is pouring over a book of cantrips in the study. 

“Uncle Caleb?” she asked. 

His head shot up from his transcribing. 

“Ja, liebling?” 

“Are… are the stories about your tattoos real? I mean, did you guys really…”

The silver haired man smiled at her, a warm, familiar fondness in his sparkling blue eyes.

“I have led a pretty colorful life. The details… the past is not important. I do not care how I got here, only that I did. Does that make sense?”

It didn’t, not really, but Cali nodded anyways. She couldn’t imagine not caring about her past, but she also couldn’t imagine fighting a demon. 

Uncle Caleb chuckled, ruffling her hair.

“You’ll understand when you’re older,” he promised. Secretly, he almost hoped she never did. He didn’t want any of these children to suffer like they had, but he also knew that they were bound to get into trouble eventually. As long as they had enough color and light to balance out the darkness, though, he knew they would all be okay. Caleb briefly reflected on his journey til this moment. It had certainly been dark, almost too dark to see, but it had not been that way forever. His tattoos celebrated the light, the color. Even something as simple as a strawberry won at a festival brought more joy into the world than had previously existed.

Glancing at his arms, Caleb smiled. He certainly had lived a colorful life.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, so I hope you enjoyed it! If you did, comments would be super appreciated!!!!


End file.
